Sam Altman Quotes - Page 9

Quotes about:

• Experience matters for some roles and not others.

  Sam Altman

  Team, Roles, Matter

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• One of the pieces of advice that we give at YC is: try to work together on a project rather than just doing an interview.

  Sam Altman

  Team, Giving, Advice

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• Really dig into projects people have worked on and call references; that is another thing that first time founders like to skip.

  Sam Altman

  Team, People, Firsts

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• Press releases are easier to write than code, and that is still easier than making a great product.

  Sam Altman

  Writing, Easier, Release

  "https://genius.com/Sam-altman-lecture-2-ideas-products-teams-and-execution-part-ii-annotated". Lecture 2: Ideas, Products, Teams and Execution Part II, genius.com. September 25, 2014.

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• There are exceptions of course, but most companies start with a great idea - not a pivot.

  Sam Altman

  Ideas, Company, Great Idea

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• In general though, if you look at the track record of pivots, they don't become big companies.

  Sam Altman

  Track, Looks, Records

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• So it's worth some real up front time to think through the long term value and the defensibility of the business.

  Sam Altman

  Real, Thinking, Long

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• It takes years and years, usually a decade, to create a great startup.

  Sam Altman

  Years, Decades

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• If you don't love and believe in what you're building, you're likely to give up at some point along the way.

  Sam Altman

  Giving Up, Believe, Way

  "Lecture 1: How to Start a Startup". Sam Altman's lecture to the class at Stanford University in Stanford, California, genius.com. 2014.

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• There's no way I know, to get through the pain of a startup without belief that the mission really matters.

  Sam Altman

  Pain, Matter, Way

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• A third advantage of mission oriented companies, is that people outside the company are more willing to help you.

  Sam Altman

  People, Helping, Advantage

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• You'll get more support on a hard, important, project than a derivative one.

  Sam Altman

  Support, Important, Derivatives

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• These all sounded really bad, but they turned out to be good. If they had sounded really good, there would have been too many people working on them.

  Sam Altman

  People, Be Good, Has Beens

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• The hard part is that this is a very fine line. There's right on one side of it, and crazy on the other.

  Sam Altman

  Crazy, Lines, Sides

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• You want an idea that not many other people are working on, and it's okay if it doesn't sound big at first.

  Sam Altman

  Ideas, People, Sound

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• A related advantage of mission oriented ideas, is that you yourself will be dedicated to them.

  Sam Altman

  Ideas, Advantage, Missions

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• We hear again and again from founders, that they wish they had waited to start a startup until they came up with an idea they really loved.

  Sam Altman

  Ideas, Wish, Founders

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• It's really easy to get PR with no results & it actually feels like you're really actually cool, but in a year you'll still have nothing.

  Sam Altman

  Years, Like You, Easy

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• It's difficult to get large groups of people, to the extreme levels of focus and productivity that you need, for a startup to be successful.

  Sam Altman

  Successful, People, Focus

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• You can have a startup and one other thing, you can have a family, but you probably can't have many other things.

  Sam Altman

  Hobbies

  "Lecture 2: Ideas, Products, Teams and Execution Part II". Sam Altman's "How To Start a Startup" lecture to the class at Stanford University in Stanford, California, genius.com. 2014.

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• You need conviction in your own beliefs, and the willingness to ignore others naysaying.

  Sam Altman

  Needs, Belief, Conviction

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• You have to be intense. This only comes from the CEO, this only comes from the founders.

  Sam Altman

  Intense, Ceo, Founders

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• The other piece besides focus for execution is intensity. Startups only work at a fairly intense level.

  Sam Altman

  Focus, Pieces, Levels

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• You also want people who are maniacally determined and that is slightly different than having a risk tolerant attitude.

  Sam Altman

  Attitude, Team, People

  "Lecture 2: Ideas, Products, Teams and Execution Part II". Sam Altman's "How To Start a Startup" lecture to the class at Stanford University in Stanford, California, genius.com. 2014.

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• So if you want a culture where people work hard, & pay attention to detail, focus on the customer, are frugal: you have to do it yourself.

  Sam Altman

  Hard Work, People, Focus

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